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that âthe greater the good, the greater the evil that is its oppositeâ: for they
allege that health, which is a less good thing than vigour, has a greater evil as
its opposite: for disease is a greater evil than debility. In this case too,
therefore, we have to withdraw the point objected to; for when it has been
withdrawn, the man is more likely to admit the proposition, e.g. that âthe
greater good has the greater evil as its opposite, unless the one good involves
the other as wellâ, as vigour involves health. This should be done not only
when he formulates an objection, but also if, without so doing, he refuses to
admit the point because he foresees something of the kind: for if the point
objected to be withdrawn, he will be forced to admit the proposition because
he cannot foresee in the rest of it any case where it does not hold true: if he
refuse to admit it, then when asked for an objection he certainly will be
unable to render one. Propositions that are partly false and partly true are of
this type: for in the case of these it is possible by withdrawing a part to leave
the rest true. If, however, you formulate the proposition on the strength of
many cases and he has no objection to bring, you may claim that he shall
admit it: for a premiss is valid in dialectics which thus holds in several
instances and to which no objection is forthcoming.
Whenever it is possible to reason to the same conclusion either through or
without a reduction per impossibile, if one is demonstrating and not arguing
dialectically it makes no difference which method of reasoning be adopted,
but in argument with another reasoning per impossibile should be avoided.
For where one has reasoned without the reduction per impossibile, no dispute
can arise; if, on the other hand, one does reason to an impossible conclusion,
unless its falsehood is too plainly manifest, people deny that it is impossible,
so that the questioners do not get what they want.
One should put forward all propositions that hold true of several cases, and
to which either no objection whatever appears or at least not any on the
surface: for when people cannot see any case in which it is not so, they admit
it for true.
The conclusion should not be put in the form of a question; if it be, and the
man shakes his head, it looks as if the reasoning had failed. For often, even if
it be not put as a question but advanced as a consequence, people deny it, and
then those who do not see that it follows upon the previous admissions do not
realize that those who deny it have been refuted: when, then, the one man
merely asks it as a question without even saying that it so follows, and the
other denies it, it looks altogether as if the reasoning had failed.
Not every universal question can form a dialectical proposition as
ordinarily understood, e.g. âWhat is man?â or âHow many meanings has âthe
goodâ?â For a dialectical premiss must be of a form to which it is possible to
331
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book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156